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  Wheel assembly and wheelchairRelated Patent Categories: Land Vehicles: Wheels And Axles, Wheel, With Peripheral RollerThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080007108. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/961,442 filed Oct. 8, 2004. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to an improved wheel assembly and wheelchair, and in particular to a wheel assembly having multiple small rotatable wheels mounted laterally on a main wheel whereby lateral movement as well as forward and backward movement is possible. [0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0005] Wheelchairs are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. The traditional wheelchair design, whether powered, manual or pushed by another person, has two main, large diameter, side mounted wheels having fixed parallel positions and having hand rails attached thereto. Because of the fixed parallel positions of the main wheels, movement is generally restricted to pivoting, straight line or curved movement. Curved and pivoting movement is attained by rotating the main wheels at different speeds or in opposite directions. However, the wheelchair cannot achieve side-to-side lateral motion. [0006] In order to shift position laterally, a wheelchair operator must back up, pivot, move forward, pivot, and move forward again. This may be tolerable in some situations; however, the inability to move laterally causes significant difficulty in maneuvering in tight quarters such as bathrooms and elevators. Even in a confined office or work setting, the constant backing and pivoting is time consuming and unproductive. [0007] Transport wheelchairs utilizing four small wheels that rotate have been developed that enhance mobility in tight quarters. However, this type of chair requires the constant presence of an assistant since it cannot be hand propelled. [0008] Thus, there is a need for hand-propelled wheelchairs that can be moved laterally as well as in the standard forward-reverse movement. There is also a need for a wheel assembly that can move laterally as well as forward and backward. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] A wheel assembly, wheelchair and method are provided by the present invention. [0010] A wheel assembly of the invention that is capable of forward-reverse movement as well as lateral movement comprises a main wheel rotatable on an axle and a plurality of small rotatable outer wheels positioned laterally on the main wheel. The main wheel is rotatable in a plane on the axle and each outer wheel is rotatable on the main wheel in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane. [0011] In a preferred wheel assembly, a plurality of small rotatable outer wheels are attached laterally to the main wheel by ball bearings. In one embodiment, the outer wheels each comprise an inner race, a ring of ball bearings, an outer race, and a tire mounted on the outer race. In another embodiment, each outer wheel comprises a hub having fixed outer hub sides and an outer circumference on which a tire is disposed. A pair of bearing cones are positioned on the main wheel between the hub the outer hub sides. [0012] A wheelchair of this invention comprises a pair of main wheels attached to hubs that rotate on axles by a plurality of spokes. Small outer rotatable wheels and wheel bearings are positioned on the main wheels between the spokes. The small outer rotatable wheels are positioned perpendicularly to the main wheels as close together as possible. The outer tire surfaces of the small rotatable wheels define an essentially continuous wheel assembly circumference. Preferably, the outer tire surfaces are shaped to maximize the circularity of the wheel assembly circumference. An optional brake assembly is attached to the wheelchair for preventing the outer small rotatable wheels from rotating when the wheelchair is moved forward or backward. [0013] The wheelchair of this invention comprises a frame, one or more axles, a pair of rearward main wheel assemblies as defined above attached to the one or more axles and a pair of front castor wheels. The wheelchair is hand-propelled using hand rails mounted on the main wheels and as mentioned above, it can optionally include a brake assembly for preventing rotation of the small outer rotatable wheels. [0014] A method of moving the hand-propelled wheelchair of this invention laterally comprises the steps of releasing the small rotatable wheel brake if included and exerting a lateral force against a proximate object. The lateral force can be exerted by a person or patient in the wheelchair or by an attendant. [0015] The features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading the following description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheelchair of this invention. [0017] FIG. 2 is a side view of a wheel assembly of this invention. [0018] FIG. 3 is an outer lateral wheel viewed along lines 3-3. [0019] FIG. 4 illustrates another outer lateral wheel configuration that can be used while [0020] FIG. 4A depicts an alternative outer wheel having a curvature similar to the main wheel curvature. Continue reading... Full patent description for Wheel assembly and wheelchair Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Wheel assembly and wheelchair patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Wheel assembly and wheelchair or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Structure of a spoke positioning pocket Next Patent Application: Method for refilling brake circuits after a large consumption of compressed air and device for carrying out said method Industry Class: Land vehicles: wheels and axles ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Wheel assembly and wheelchair patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 1.18102 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Computers: Graphics , I/O , Processors , Dyn. Storage , Static Storage , Printers |
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